Animals In PrintThe On-Line NewsletterJune 10, 2012

Meat glue (Transglutaminase):The meat industry’s dirty secret

Miriam Kresh, March 22, 2011

Care for a slab of Frankenstein steak? Just glue meat
scraps together with transglutaminase and serve ‘em up, hot. Side of blood
clots, optional.

The white powder sold by the kilo, above, is the meat
industry’s dirty little secret. It’s “meat
glue.” It makes pieces of beef, lamb, chicken or fish that would
normally be thrown out stick together so closely that it looks like a solid
piece of meat. See also our posts on
Israel’s frozen fish scandal and
how garlic from China is scary stuff.

Restaurants and butchers can
now sell their scraps as premium meat. Good way to use them up – and charge
premium prices for them too. Best of all, you don’t have to tell the
customer. Once the glued meat is cooked, even professional butchers can’t
tell the difference.

What is transglutaminase?

“Meat
glue” is transglutaminase, an enzyme in powder form, derived from beef
and pork blood plasma. See the
Wikipedia description. Chefs most commonly use the
Activa RM brand, which is transglutaminase mixed with maltodextrine and
sodium caseinate, a milk protein. Using enzymes in food isn’t a new
technique. Papaya seed is the main ingredient in meat tenderizers, for
example. Rennet and yeasts produce enzymes that make cheese and alcohol,
too. Natural enzymes. Meat glue is a darker product altogether.

Yet
according to
Cooking Issues, the French Culinary Institute’s blog (USA), meat glue is
safe. That is, the major study carried out to gain acceptance by the FDA
says so. And why shouldn’t we believe? It was funded by Ajinomoto, the
product’s manufacturer, after all.

A
scientist we interviewed about meat glue could only speak *on anonymity*
about the hazards.

This video from Australia’s TodayTonight TV show demonstrates how easily
you can create Frankenstein meat. Just sprinkle a teaspoon of powdered
transglutaminase on various meat scraps, knead them together and roll them
up in plastic wrap. Put in the fridge and 6 hours later, you have an
easily-sliced piece of meat that looks like real fillet:
http://au.todaytonight.yahoo.com/article/8989315/consumer/meat-glue

Only make sure
to wear your face mask while performing the simple operation: you don’t want
to be inhaling powder that makes your blood clot abnormally.

Do
you want to be eating it either?

Banned by the European Parliament in May
2010, meat glue is freely available through sources like
Amazon.com. The information from the French Culinary Institute states
that 1 kg. will hold over 100 kg. of meat parts together. This is the
product description of meat glue exactly as it appears on Amazon.com:

“The amount of bacteria on a steak that’s been put
together with meat glue is hundreds of time higher,” he says.The
bacterial count in patched-up meat is extremely high because scraps that
were outside pieces but are now glued together inside are hard to cook
thoroughly.

Another reason to eat less meat, buy organic or from a
trusted source, and take nothing for granted in terms of food safety. Makes
you think twice about what’s really in popular food-chain hamburgers, too.
Even kosher and halal meat must be questioned – there is a kosher version of
meat glue, Activa TIU.

Europeans – hopefully – aren’t eating Frankenstein
meat now. There are no regulations against meat glue outside of Europe,
however. The main objection to it is that it’s misleading; diners pay for
quality meat that’s really scraps glued together. But I ask: what are the
health consequences? Is it known what long-term consumption of
transglutaminase – a blood-clotting substance – has on human beings?
Especially if you like your meat rare.

Just gimme my meat with the bone
in, please. Hold the side of thrombosis.

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